Briarlight's True Role
by Tigercry
Summary: "Only one will die today." Briarlight's more important than everyone has believed her to be, and now it was time for her to come clean about it. "Under the bright loyalty and love of a briar with the blue-eyed jay finally stretch its wings and with the briar's protective thorns will Thunder and the four prevail."Part of The Start of A Future from Rising Of A Crystal's Lightning Arc


_**I had the beginning of this laying around and I was bored :P So I sorta finished it, leaving it open for a sequel :P It's part of my Rising Of A Crystal's Lightning arc, my arc after the Omen Of the Stars (Omens Of The Four is my rename) and takes place after my separate story "Briarlight's Kits" :P Random side note it's from the book titled The Start of A Future, the first book in the mentioned arc :P Of which is unpublished at the moment :P**_

 _ **Anyway, enjoy the Briarfeather and Cinderblaze of my altered version of warriors! :D**_

 _Briarlight's True Role_

Jayfeather was sorting herbs, his mind straying to Briarlight. A quarter moon had passed since the paralyzed she-cat had given birth to his tiny daughter Cloudkit, and Jayfeather was still fighting his doubts about the whole thing, he didn't want his daughter to end up like he and his siblings, and nor did he want Briarlight hurt or did he want to break the warriors code. Moments later he heard Briarlight stirring and sitting up, Cloudkit remaining asleep.

"Good morning Jay," Briarlight mewed in a sleepy tone and a wide yawn.

After his stony cold silence of a greeting Briarlight fell silent for a moment and he could feel the sharp sting of hurt faintly coming from her before she pushed through it. "Do you want some help?" She asked, her voice as bubbly as ever. Clearly, the she-cat was pretending that his cold greeting hadn't fazed her.

"No." Jayfeather snapped before his brain caught up with what he had said and he inwardly winced, okay, today was not getting a good start. But his pride wouldn't let him apologize.

He heard Briarlight shift her weight as she recoiled before he heard Cloudkit squeal with annoyance at being woken up, and the sound of Briarlight's tongue rasping over her cobweb soft fur, the she-cat remained silent, probably trying to think of something to say that wouldn't cause him to snap at her. Jayfeather worked in silence for a few more moments, feeling a little guilty at the periodic flickers of hurt running through his forbidden mate.

"Do you want anything from the fresh-kill pile?" Briarlight asked after they both heard his stomach rumble, "I was going to go over there anyway."

Jayfeather didn't say anything, staying focused on his task.

"You could at least talk to me!" He heard Briarlight snap angrily from her nest a few moments later and he felt her gaze boring into his skull, "without hurting my feelings!"

Okay, now he was annoyed, "then don't be so sensitive!" Jayfeather snapped back harshly, "I'm busy okay?" The moment he said that he wished he could take it back. "Briarlight-" he tried to apologize, that was too far, even he knew that. Briarlight could only go so far being emotionally attacked, and prodding at her hidden sensitivity was her limit.

"I'm going outside," the she-cat stated flatly, not bothering to respond to the sound of her name.

"I can take care of Cloudkit-" Jayfeather tried to offer, trying to give her some space.

"She's coming with me." Briarlight cut him off and he heard Cloudkit squeal against as her mother woke her up for the second time that morning. He then listened helplessly at the sounds of her dragging her back legs around the den floor and out through the bramble screen. _Oh, StarClan, why can I think before being a mouse-brain?_

* * *

Briarlight dragged herself outside, struggling to keep her hurt and anguish from showing in her eyes and struggling to keep the tears from breaking free. She could handle Jay's grumpiness, she could handle his sarcasm, and she adored when he was a clumsy tom not quite sure what she needed from him, but she couldn't handle when he attacked her like that. The sensitivity comment stung like a claw slashing across her throat, and that was as far as she was willing to go to let him get some steam off from whatever he was worried about now. Briarlight blinked hard for a moment as she made her way toward the nursery where she knew Cinderheart was and the tabby was the only cat beside Jayfeather's siblings that knew Jayfeather was Cloudkit's father.

Just as Briarlight reached the nursery, Hollyleaf slid through the entrance, her green eyes bright with amusement, which disappeared the moment she saw Briarlight. "Hey Briarlight, Cinderheart just went to sleep," she told her before addressing the current issue, "Are you okay?"

Briarlight, aware of the many cats listening into their conversation nodded while her amber eyes said no.

Hollyleaf nodded and disappeared back into the nursery, "come on Cinderheart, Briarlight's here." She mewed as she prodded her heavily pregnant friend's shoulder as Briarlight dragged herself into the den.

Cinderheart gave a groan and lifted her head, blue eyes blurry with sleep as she forced herself into an awkward sitting position, her belly causing her to sit awkwardly with her forelegs stretched out in front of her. "What happened now?" She asked, eyeing the sleeping form of Icecloud suspiciously. The white warrior was expecting one kit while Cinderheart was expecting four, and she wasn't a fan of the extra weight. Plus they had to be careful to not wake her up or they would have an eavesdropper.

Briarlight settled in the nest that was left open for her when she occasionally stayed in the nursery before her mother shooed her back to the medicine den before she replied. "He's just being a mouse-brain," she twitched her ears in a brushing off gesture and continued, "he's been really rude lately, more than usual."

Cinderheart flopped back onto her side and yawned, "maybe he's just worried," she mumbled as her blue eye started to droop closed.

"He's always worrying about something," Briarlight huffed and she gently nudged her young kit closer to her belly fur, worried about her. "That's what he does."

Hollyleaf gave a snort as she settled down to be lying on the nursery's packed floor, "true, he does seem to worry about everything under StarClan's reign."  
"But he's more grumpy than usual," Briarlight added, her amber eyes narrowing slightly in thought as she struggled to figure out what was wrong with Jayfeather and why he had been so mean to her this morning.

"Maybe he's worried about Cloudkit?" Cinderheart offered sleepily the gray tabby was half asleep at the current moment.

Hollyleaf nodded slowly, "he could be, with how nervous he is about it all."

Briarlight looked down at her kit, refusing to let the other she-cats see the hurt and pain written over her face. After everything, he was still doubting and freaking out about the whole thing? She was only here instead of StarClan because of him and this was how he repaid her. She bent her head and licked Cloudkit a few times, bothering the young kit but cleaning any traces of Jayfeather's scent from her pelt in case some other cat noticed the kitten's father's scent on her soft fur, which could cause some problems in the first place. She could feel Hollyleaf's gaze on her, the black she-cat probably knew what she was thinking. After all, she and Jayfeather couldn't have hidden what happened to Briarlight and how close to dying she had been with how bad her state had been.

"I'm sure he'll get over it Briarlight," Hollyleaf told the brown she-cat reassuringly and she padded over before she nuzzled Cloudkit's small ears, "he's always wanted a family."

Briarlight wondered if she should tell Hollyleaf about Halfmoon, a she-cat she and Jayfeather knew back in the ancient times. She broke herself from her thoughts when Jayfeather himself slid into the nursery, his blind eyes focused steadfastly in front of him, a few herb bundles in his jaws.

"Hey Jayfeather," Hollyleaf greeted her brother warmly, "you're in here early today."

Jayfeather flicked the tip of his tail in reply and put the bundles down, pushing one to Cinderheart, one to Briarlight, and one next to Icecloud's nest for when she woke up later. "Eat these," he told the two queens before he addressed Cinderheart, "Cinderheart you should be kitting soon, we want to keep your strength up for that." He turned to Briarlight, his blind eyes fixated on her own amber eyes. "Are you staying in the nursery? I'm going out into the forest for herbs and I'd like to know who'll be in my den."

Briarlight twitched her ears, "I'm staying here."

Jayfeather's ears seemed to droop for half a second before he nodded and slipped from the den.

Hollyleaf watched her brother go, "He really hurt you this time didn't he?" She asked while Cinderheart heaved herself into a sitting position and gave a wide yawn.

Briarlight simply twitched her ears and lapped up the herbs in the bundle she was given, the tang and bitter taste of the plants were masked by the sweet taste of nectar that Jayfeather had included in the herbs.

Cinderheart on the other paw made a face at the herb taste, "blegh, I will never get used to this stuff." She huffed and pawed uncomfortably at her muzzle as if that could make the taste go away.

"Well, maybe that'll help?" A muffled voice mewed as Lionblaze forced his broad shoulders through the nursery entrance as he came to visit his mate and littermate.

Cinderheart's blue eyes lit up and she purred loudly, stretching upward to touch noses with him. "Lionblaze!"

Lionblaze put down the mouse, vole, and blackbird he had managed to fit into his jaws and nuzzled Cinderheart, his amber eyes soft and loving. "Hey, Cinderheart,"

Hollyleaf gave an indignant noise, "excuse me? Do I not get a hello?"

Lionblaze rolled his eyes and playfully swiped at Hollyleaf's left ear, "Hello to you too crazy she-cat."

Hollyleaf rolled her eyes and neatly dodged her brother's swipe, "are you done acting like a kit?" she asked him cheekily before she squeaked as Lionblaze nipped her foreleg.

Lionblaze's whiskers twitched, "now I'm done," he announced as he trotted closer to Cinderheart and settled to be lying behind her.

Cinderheart settled back into her nest, her nose twitching at the scent of the fresh kill Lionblaze had brought with him.

Briarlight gave a quiet greeting to the tom as she put her head down into her mossy nest and closed her eyes, intending to sleep for a while.

* * *

"Briarlight!" A voice hissed, forcing the brown she-cat awake. Or so she thought.

Briarlight's amber eyes opened, blurry with drowsiness, and she lifted her head. "Halfmoon?" She mewed in a partial croak, lifting her head and looking around for the white she-cat. Right away she realized she was lying on the cold stone in the tunnels with the water rushing angrily through its riverbed. _I thought I was done with these cursed tunnels,_ she mentally groaned, she really didn't want to be with the ancients right now, not when Jayfeather could join her and she just wanted peace and quiet. Especially from him, she needed a break from his ridiculously sharp tongue.

"Hurry Briarlight!" Halfmoon's wide green eyes were staring back at her, her coat ruffled with worry and fear. "We have no time to waste!"

Briarlight lurched to her paws, her paws and legs heavy with sleep, of which made her movements lethargic and tired. "Okay, okay, I'm getting up." She mewed rather crossly and straightened up, finding herself a decent bit smaller than Halfmoon, as per usual in the ancients. In real life she was roughly Halfmoon's size, maybe a mousetail taller, but in the ancients, she was way smaller than her due to her much younger age. "What're you panicking about Halfmoon?" She tried her best to shake off her reoccurring drowsiness, clearly, she hadn't been sleeping enough.

"Follow me!" Halfmoon turned tail and ran, disappearing around a corner in the tunnels a moment later.

"Halfmoon! Wait up!" Briarlight cried before haring after Jayfeather's previous mate, taking a few stumbling steps at first to adjusting to having her back legs working properly. The last time she had seen this particular cat was after she had personally interrupted her and Jayfeather before guiltily revealing the prophecy she had been given and pretending she hadn't had a massive crush on Jayfeather at the time. But that was a long time ago, Jayfeather had told her that he had seen Halfmoon at Cloudkit's birth and admittedly it frustrated her a decent amount. She was his second choice, always was and always had been, second best to the female she was currently chasing for no reason than because she had told her to.

Halfmoon burst out of the tunnel's entrance and stopped in a small clearing, looking almost nervously down at the clear puddle tucked in the now starry grass.

"Halfmoon," Briarlight mewed as she cautiously approached the she-cat, worry glinting in her sharp amber eyes, "what's going on?"

"Come and look," Halfmoon told her simply before she expanded on her reply, "it's important for when you wake up."

Briarlight sighed and trudged over to the puddle before looking down and squinting, looking for what Halfmoon was seeing. Immediately she heard a cat howling in pain, the sound ringing in her ears as she saw brief images of a silver tabby and very bloody kittens. She reeled back in alarm, rearing up on her back legs as if she was about to protect herself from what she had just seen and heard. "Cinderheart!" The brown tabby whirled around to look at Halfmoon, her tail bushed out like a gorse, "something's wrong with Cinderheart!"

Halfmoon shook her head, "not just that," her green eyes were still impossibly wide, "look again Briarlight."

Briarlight did as she asked and cautiously reapproached the puddle before looking down into the depths. Cats screeching and fighting filled her sensitive ears, and what she saw made the fur around her neck bristle and her nose wrinkle with shock and fear. She whirled around once more, "I have to get back to the tunnels and wake up!" She gasped and started running, "before the battle starts!"

"Briarlight!" Halfmoon called to her, "a life must end today! And please in the name of the Tribe Of Endless Hunting don't let it be you! Jayfeather needs you!"

Briarlight's ears twitched at her mew, but she kept running and skidded to a halt into the tunnels, whose walls glowed eerily red, a sign of how worried both she and Halfmoon were. _Come on… come on!_ She made a few circles before laying down on the cold rocks and squeezing her eyes shut, _Come on! Wake up!_ She shut her eyes harder, tail twitching in agitation, _wake up!_

"Briarlight watch out!"

Briarlight's amber eyes flashed open to see the nursery walls around her and a rather large cat lunging at her, claws outstretched. The paralyzed she-cat gave a loud hiss and unsheathed her front claws before she swiped at the tom's face with a much strength as she could muster, balancing almost precariously on one front leg.

The tom howled and reeled back from her, clearly surprised at her being battle ready the moment her eyes opened.

Briarlight hissed, her ears flattening back against her skull and her nose wrinkling as she placed her paw back down in the mossy nest she was in and kept her claws unsheathed. She couldn't hear any other fighting, it looked like ShadowClan, she could tell by the tom's unearthly stench, was just attacking them. After making sure Cloudkit was safely hidden beneath her belly she breathed in a deep breath and gave as loud of a howl as she could while as well howling mentally, hoping Jayfeather could hear her. "ShadowClan's attacking the nursery-!" She howled only to be lunged at by the black tom from earlier.

Luckily for her there was a very furious silver tabby, of whom had woken her up, who was clearly not pleased and had been fighting already judging by the bloody claw marks in her shoulders, flanks, and ears. "Don't you dare!" She snarled and grabbed the tom by the scruff before yanking him backward and off balance.

Briarlight gave another swipe at his muzzle, fighting to her best ability in her current status. "Thanks, Cinderheart!" She mewed breathlessly before she slashed another ShadowClan cat's face as they tore a hole in the nursery walls.

* * *

Briarlight's blood turned to ice at Cinderheart's agonized howl, and she struggled harder, struggling to claw at the cat dragging her backward by the scruff away from the nursery and her now wailing kit. "Cinderheart!" She watched as before her own eyes the female tabby's legs buckled and she dropped heavily to the ground to lay there groaning with blood spreading out around her belly. "Cinderheart!" The rest of the clan was fighting, working on getting rid of the rest of the ShadowClan warriors.

"NO!" Lionblaze had seen his mate fall. The huge golden tabby threw off a cat clawing at his flanks and howled, running toward the nursery's remains and shoving past all of the fighting cats to get to his mate. "Cinderheart no!"

Briarlight struggled even harder at Cinderheart's new wail of pain, the sound a cat made when they were kitting abruptly. Halfmoon's mew rang in her ears, _A life must end today…_ "No!" It couldn't be Cinderheart, not after everything she and Lionblaze had gone through! Didn't any of her friends deserve some kind of happy ending?! Hers was ruined by her paralysis, Hollyleaf's was ruined by Fallenleaves' sickness, and now Lionblaze was going to lose Cinderheart?! StarClan wanted to torture her and the ones she loved.

"Briarlight!" Jayfeather's shocked mew jolted Briarlight from her thoughts as the blind tom managed to sink his teeth into the tom's ear, tearing a major gash in his ear and making him release Briarlight. "We need to act, now!"

Briarlight shook off the dreary thoughts and forced herself to focus, "right, I'm paying attention." She then increased the volume of her mew, "Hollyleaf! We need herbs! And cobwebs!"

"I'll try-!" Hollyleaf mewed back in a similar tone before she was cut off as she was attacked from multiple sides because of Briarlight's directions.

Briarlight hauled herself toward Cinderheart, relying on Jayfeather to make sure she wasn't going to get dragged along again at the current moment. Cinderheart was going to need them both if she was going to make it. "Leafpool!" She howled, "we need help!" Two fully trained medicine cats and Briarlight, the cat with knowledge of ancient herbs and some normal ones. Now if StarClan let them they could save her.

* * *

"Push Cinderheart!" Briarlight encouraged the tabby, amber eyes highly worried and fearful. Three of the kits were born, covered in their mother's blood and rather weak but alive and breathing. But Cinderheart was fading, the tabby's injuries were massive, and Briarlight knew only StarClan could save her now.

Cinderheart gave a heave and a screech. Her entire tired body was trembling in her struggle to bring her and Lionblaze's last kit into the world through a vicious fight between two clans and her own nearly fatal belly wound.

Halfmoon's warning weighed heavily on Briarlight's mind, she knew someone was going to die today, she knew it for certain. Who wasn't specified, but from what it looked like right now, Cinderheart was going to be the one. There was blood everywhere, the cobwebs on Cinderheart's belly to slow the bleeding was barely working and she was quickly losing the last reserves of her strength. Briarlight felt guilt and fear weigh her stomach, there wasn't anything else she or Jayfeather could do as the last kit was finally born, the smallest of them all and barely moving.

Jayfeather located the kit's head and split the sack with his teeth before vigorously licking it the wrong way, warming and waking up the weak kit. They all breathed a relieved breath when it gave a tiny squeal and weakly wriggled toward Cinderheart's blood sticky underbelly.

Lionblaze, covered in blood from the battle suddenly emerged from it once again and crouched at his mate's head, "do something!" He pleaded with his brother and Briarlight, looking at them both in despair, "I can't lose her!"

Briarlight felt numb as Jayfeather told Lionblaze there wasn't anything else they could do, she could've stopped this… She should've been the one instead.

Jayfeather stopped mid-sentence and swung his head to look at her, blind eyes piercing as he stared at his forbidden mate in shock at the thoughts he could easily read.

Briarlight ignored him, her amber eyes on Lionblaze as he settled at his mate's head and gently rasped his tongue over her head and ears, his mew thick with grief.

"We have four beautiful kits," Lionblaze sniffled and licked Cinderheart's ears in a loving way, cleaning the blood from her silver and black fur, "they're perfect Cinderheart, all of them."

Cinderheart weakly purred and her head drooped to be resting on the dirt, her eyes barely opened as she lost even more blood.

Briarlight's front legs abruptly buckled as a cat grabbed her by one of her useless back legs and yanked, hard. She slid unevenly across the ground, digging her claws into the ground and scrabbling for a grip.

"Briarlight!" Jayfeather whirled around, "let her go!" The blind tom was then tackled himself. It seemed that now that one of the Queens were dying they weren't safe from the fight anymore.

Briarlight was rolled onto her back and stared up at her attacker with wide round eyes, fear glinting in the amber depths. She recognized who it was in a heartbeat. Scorchfur… the one who had essentially killed Cinderheart. Immediately her fear was replaced by rage, she didn't care if he killed her, but no cat could kill her friends.

"Aw, is the queen sad about her friend?" Scorchfur taunted mercilessly, his claws glinting in a deadly fashion in the cloudy sky's moonlight.

"No," Briarlight hissed and caught him off guard, "because she's not dying!" She hissed, hearing Jayfeather calling her name and trying to fight off who was attacking him, "you are!"

Scorchfur was caught completely off guard as the paralyzed she-cat lunged upward, straining her body enough to clamp her jaws around the underside of his throat, her teeth sinking easily into the soft spot of his neck.

Briarlight's amber eyes glinted with fury, "only one will die tonight," she hissed, truly sounding like a StarClan cat, probably from her many near deather experiences by this point, "and that one cat will be you!" She bit down and nearly gagged when she felt blood filling up her mouth and spilling out the sides of her jaws. Blood splattered her fur, making her eyes sting and blocking every other scent in her nose. Briarlight felt Scorchfur falter and she let go, making a gurgling hiss.

The light in Scorchfur's eyes dimmed and after a few moments, he collapsed on top of Briarlight, lying there motionless.

"Stop!" A ShadowClan warriors howled, "Scorchfur's dead!" The fighting stopped abruptly, everyone shocked by Briarlight's actions.

The clearing was silent, no cat made a sound as they all stopped and stared at Briarlight and the dead tom.

Briarlight on the other paw felt the world spin, she had killed another cat. The very thought made her want to vomit and cower under StarClan's wrath. She had broken the Warrior Code after everything StarClan had done for her already. _Halfmoon… I hope you were right about this…_

She heard Jayfeather's scrambling pawsteps and the tom shoved Scorchfur off before rolling Briarlight back onto her belly, his blind eyes focused sharply on her. "Briarlight, are you okay?"

"Yeah," Briarlight mewed in a rasp, amber eyes still impossibly wide, "why do you ask?"

"Because I smell blood on you," Jayfeather responded and poked her in multiple places with his nose, sniffing for injuries. He touched her left flank then drew back with a start, "and you're injured."

Briarlight was only then suddenly aware of the dizzying amount of pain going through her body from the deep slash in her flank. "Oh…" The brown tabby mewed weakly before her ears drooped, her head dropped to the dirt, and her eyes slid shut.

* * *

"Halfmoon how could you interfere like that?!"

"I had to Bluestar! Jayfeather and his siblings have suffered enough without Lionblaze's mate dying!"

Briarlight awoke to a pair of annoyingly familiar voices. "Am I finally dead yet?" She asked in a croak of a mew and weakly lifted her head, "after everything that's happened to me?" She said a little selfishly. Then reeled back when Bluestar shoved her muzzle into Briarlight's vision.

"No, but you should be after what you've done!" The angry leader snarled and lashed her tail, "you killed him Briarlight!"

Briarlight narrowed her eyes and got to her paws, "I killed him because Halfmoon told me somebody had to die Bluestar! I did it to protect ThunderClan and ShadowClan!"

"How is killing a warrior and beginning a feud saving the two clans?!" Bluestar demanded, getting close enough to Briarlight that the younger warrior could smell the mouse on her breath.

"Because if Cinderheart died at the ShadowClan's paws Lionblaze would've gone and gotten his revenge!" Briarlight shot back, "He would've killed every single warrior he's seen in the battle in their own camp! There's a reason Cinderheart was in the prophecy Bluestar!"

"There have always been three!" Bluestar snapped back, "how did you know there was a fourth?!"

Briarlight hesitated, did she really want to reveal how she visited the Ancients? And how Rock had given her prophecies of her own? Bluestar's piercing gaze made Briarlight sigh and settle back onto her haunches before wrapping her tail around her paws. "I know Rock." She stated simply to the StarClan warrior, "I was pulled into the Ancients with Jayfeather as a kit with the name PricklyBriar. Or as I'm known as later, A Briar's Thorn after Fallenleaves' mother and I died. She sighed, "Jayfeather's not the only special one Bluestar." She looked at the stunned gray she-cat. "I've gone through the beginning of the clans and the Tribe, I've pretty much died three times outside of the clans, and I was there in the battle of BloodClan." Her tail lashed a few times, "I've pretty much relived important moments in the Clans' and the Tribe's histories."

"Give me an example," Bluestar spoke in a disbelieving mew.

"I was there at Feathertail's death, I was killed there by a sharp falling rock; I was with Jayfeather and Halfmoon as he led the tribe to the mountains as Jay's Wing, I managed to not die there; I stood beside TurtleTail in the beginning of the Clans as one of her kits and witnessed the four Clans form and Clear Sky's utter mouse-brained actions, I died from Greencough there; I was there in ShadowClan when Tigerstar rose to leader, I was killed with your son for defending Stormfur and Feathertail, and my ears still ring from Tigerstar's screams as he died." Her amber eyes were tired and showed how much she had seen, "I knew there was a fourth because I was told the full prophecy from the cat who made it himself."

"Then what prophecy are you part of?" Bluestar asked rather softly, confused and rather stunned at Briarlight's words.

Briarlight's ears drooped a little sadly and she recited the prophecy she was given. " _Through rushing water and the end of a feather's gentle flight, to four clans beginning and the end of a raging tiger, the beginning of three and becoming of two, and the prophecy of four must a briar's thorn shine through. Haunted by dreams and shadows of the past yet living amongst the future, only to chase lost dreams and face her still bright future. Chastened by a sharp bird's tongue and guided under a clear moon's wing will the briar flourish and cower. Under the bright loyalty and love of a briar with the blue-eyed jay finally stretch its wings and with the briar's protective thorns will Thunder and the four prevail."_

Bluestar looked at her, the gray cat finally seeing why she had made her decision.

"Such old words for a young one's young heart," another voice spoke softly, one that Briarlight had only heard once before. "A prophecy can be a burden to those who just want a normal life."

Briarlight dipped her head to the approaching smoky gray she-cat, "Cinderpelt," she greeted, "and I agree. I never wanted any of this."

"Except Jayfeather," Cinderpelt pointed out and Briarlight's fur grew warm, "even as an apprentice you always seemed to have a crush on him Briarlight." Her blue eyes twinkled, "Cinderheart is more observant than cats give her credit for."

Briarlight twitched her ears, "I'm not surprised, she noticed something was off about Lionblaze, Jayfeather, Dovewing, and I a long time ago, even before Dovewing herself knew."

Cinderpelt dipped her head to Briarlight's words, "just like how you knew there was something different about Jayfeather the moment he started to take care of you and Millie when you were a kit sick with Greencough."

Briarlight lightly shook her head, "not in the same way, I met Jayfeather in the ancients when I was a kit. I learned to adore the cute, confused, curt, blue-eyed tabby I had known there. Then I had to relearn to like him again because he was more moody and grouchy until I realized he was just grumpy because of his blindness."

Cinderpelt's blue eyes twinkled some more, "come then, let's fix this Briarlight."

Briarlight nodded and began to follow her before Cinderpelt stopped her with her tail.

"You rest and close your eyes, I will see you at a later time," Cinderpelt mewed before she licked the top of Briarlight's head, "rest little briar's thorn."

Briarlight's eyes drooped and her legs buckled, drowsiness spreading throughout her entire body from Cinderpelt's touch. She gave a small mew as an attempt to speak but nothing came out, instead, her eyes closed completely and she drifted off.


End file.
